Living in Korea: Temple Stay and the Ganghwa Island

I had been always want to join a temple stay program, and it’s why I've been so exciting ever since I got an offer from IIRF to fill in the available seats of the program. It’s one of the best weekends I've spent in Korea.

Briefing of the program "Hello! Incheon"

All participants should arrive at IIRF office to get some briefing about the program, as well as to meet our partner. We have to be together with the partner for the whole program, and it should be a foreigner and a Korean, so that the Korean participant can help to explain many things to the foreigner.

I met Estee Lee or 이하민, a Korean highschooler as my partner. Though it’s a bit awkward at first, we can communicate well to each other thanks to her easy-going personality.

Our first destination is Gwangseongbo Fortress (광성보), which was built during Goryeo Era. It was used as a military camp to protect the King from wars happened back then, with the support of the nature of the Ganghwa Island (the speed of the water and the wide land).
Here are a little explanation about Gwangseongbo Fortress.

Gwangseongbo's outer castle

Meet with the guide of Gwangseongbo.

We can see the mainland from here, especially the village in Gimpo area.

The guide who gave kind explanation to us about the fortress history.

A pose with Estee~

Another pose! :P

Next, we went to the Jeondeungsa, which is one of the oldest temples in South Korea, as well as the venue of our main segment, the temple stay.
Here are some explanation about Jeondeungsa, and another one here.

Otw up to the Jeondeungsa~

The office of the temple

The entrance to the bedrooms.

The first thing we did in the temple was having lunch. The menu was of course bibimbab (Korean traditional mixed rice), without meat, neither egg. It was only rice, several kinds of vegetables, fruit, and gochujang (Korean red pepper paste). But it tasted good, because the ingredients are all organic and the cooking process was without any additional chemical flavorings like the common meal these days. We should take the amount of food we're going to finished, sufficiently. And after finishing the meal, we had to do the dishes our office.

We should take the amount of food sufficiently!

Eating calmly without making loud noise that could disturb other people~

We have to finish all the food we took =3

Dr. Vijaya was doing his own dishes after having his lunch.

After had lunch, we went to the office to receive the temple stay uniform and headed to our bedrooms to change clothes and some rest.

인증샷 after change clothes in the girl's room

We then moved to the meditation hall for some briefing from one of the monks in charge, including how to do the bow correctly.

Otw to the meditation hall~

Take our own cushion and put it neatly and soundlessly (we have to keep quiet inside the temple).

A monk gave some briefing of the program to all the participants.

It's the correct hand position. There should be some space (around one fist) between our hands and chest.

The correct leg position for meditation: the left heel should be at the center of our body (the same line as our nose) and the right leg should be placed on top of the left leg.

All the participants practiced how to bow correctly. There were two participants who hurt their legs so they couldn't do the bows.

After the briefing, we continued with a temple tour. We were divided into two groups: foreigner group and the Korean group. For foreigners, the tour was given in English. The lady in charge kindly told us the history and the meaning of some buildings and relics in the temple.

The foreigner participants listened to the story of the temple told by the lady guide.

The correct hand position for walking meditation, to show our moderation: the right hand holds the left hand and they should be put below our navel.

To keep our shoes neatly is one thing that we have to do daily, because it can reflect our own personalities.

It's the lotus lantern with the owners' name written in it. We can have one by donating some money: 150,000 won for a family and 100,000 won for an individual. The lotus lantern will be hung for one year, and the monk will pray for us every day.

The guide explained the history of the Chinese characters carved on the pillars.

Buddha statues inside the oldest Buddhist halls in Jeondeungsa.

Continuing with the temple tour~

A part of the temple

If I was not mistaken, it is the only Chinese bell in South Korea.

There are three musical instruments here. Not to perform any musical performance, but have to be rung everyday, in the morning and in the evening. I didn't remember how many times it should be rung each time. But if I'm not mistaken, in the evening, it should be rung 33 times, so that all beings in the 31+2 realms can hear it. I remember there are 31 realm according to Buddhism, but I don't remember what is the other two realms. Here are some sites explain the 31 realms in Buddhism: one, two. Additionally, each instrument has its own meaning, but I could not remember any~

A monk rang the instruments as an opening and visitors can try it themselves.

Two of the temple stay participants were ringing the bell.

The monk did the rest~

In the evening, after had enough rest and dinner, we did the evening service in the Buddha Hall and continued with a meditation. We were asked to focus on our breathing while counting from 1 to 100. We finished the meditation with some stretching and some wise advice from the monk. Though I was so sleepy that I could not focus on the number I counted, I felt so fresh after the meditation. It’s like I just finished some cleaning in my mind to remove the stress I had received recently. We then went back to the bedroom for rest, shower, and bed. It was so dark in the temple though it just around 9 p.m. But when we raised our head, we can see a lot of stars in the night sky. It’s so beautiful.

The evening service at the Buddha hall

He showed a correct posture of half-bow.

All the participants did the evening service lead by a monk.

A monk leading the evening service

Time for some meditation~

Some stretching after meditation

I woke up around 3.50 in the morning, preparing myself for the morning service and 108 prostrations. The 108 prostrations were to express our repentance and gratitude of what’s happening in the 3 periods (past, present, and future) related to our 6 main body parts (eyes, ears, skin, nose, tongue, and mind) and 6 senses (something we see, hear, feel, smell, taste, and think). It’s not as tough as I thought, though I had muscle sore for two days after it. :p

I found a good blog here, where the authors explain the meaning of the 108 bows in detail.

After had some rest, we experienced the formal monastic meal (발우공양) at the meditation hall. We should take the amount we were going to eat sufficiently (not too little, nor too much), because we have to finish everything. We started the meal together and ended it by cleaning the bowls with a piece of radish and some water.

We could still see the moon even after finishing the 108 bows!

Morning view of the Jeondeungsa~

All the participants went to the kitchen to bring the food we're going to have together.

On the way back to the meditation hall~

The monk arranged the 발우공양 setting.

Everyone passed the 발우공양 bowl set from one to another.

Now, we're ready to start the formal monastic meal.

A half bowl to start the meal (and a pre-meal chanting of course).

Some participants helped to distribute the food systematically.

Again, we have to take the amount of food we can finish, sufficiently.

A participant was giving some rice water to another participant.

He showed the correct way to hold the teapot.

Everyone was taking a sufficient amount of the side dishes.

Finally, the meal time started. We have to lift the bowl while eating and cover our mouth. We should not show our mouth to anyone else while eating and we have to be in straight back posture.

Everyone was enjoying the meal~

After finishing the meal, we had to clean the bowl using a slice of radish or kimchi and the rice water we'd received. We then had to eat the radish or kimchi and drink all the rice water. Next, some participants will distribute some water, where we had to use our hands and the water to clean the bowl once again.

Two participants collected the cleaning water from all participants.

We had to put the bowl back to the original position.

And wrapped it~

Next was the segment for walking meditation. We walked to the mountain. At first, we were asked, either to take the sunny but easy path, or the steep path. We ended up walking through the difficult path, with the main reason of “no pain no gain.” While doing the walking meditation, we've got to enjoy the beautiful nature of Ganghwa Island and chances to ask the monk some questions.

Time for walking meditation!

A monk lead the walking meditation~

Otw to the top of the mountain~

Walked again~

And again~

Stop for a while ...

The monk asked us, whether we prefer the easy but sunny path, or the difficult one.

Followed the monk, everyone moved without any complaining.

And we ended up with the steep path.

Up to the mountain~

'till we reach the top!

And it's the top! It's beautiful right?

We can see Jeondeungsa from the top of the mountain!

인증샷~~~ <3

Group photo 1

Group photo 2

Time to go down~

It was a very good view up there!

It's not so easy to get down because it's too steep~

There were some participants left (including me) because we took too many pictures~ ㅋ

Rest for a while under a big tree

Time for Q&A with the 스님~

And continue to walking down the mountain~

Until we reached the temple ^^

After the walking meditation and some break time, we had a tea time with the monk. We were offered some watermelon, some Korean traditional snacks, and the organic green tea that was planted by them. I enjoyed the food so much. It tasted so good. During the tea time, we could ask any questions including personal problem (if any) to the monk. He kindly replied all the questions posed by the participants. He wrapped the tea time with several wise advice to improve our mind.

After finished the walking meditation and had some rest, some snacks, fruits, and tea were prepared for all the participants.

Looks delicious, right? It really tasted good! =3

Everyone was enjoying the snacks and fruits while filling the questionnaire to improve the temple stay program.

The monk prepared the tea by himself.

스님 was about to demonstrate how to use the tool (I forgot its name).

A half bowl before the demonstration.

스님 made sure that it won't hurt the volunteered participant.

Don't misunderstand, it's not hit to hurt him. And it did not hurt at all. It's a demonstration to show how to use the tool, and the participant voluntarily offer himself for demonstration. The tool is actually used to wake up anyone who feel sleepy when he/she has to be awake. After the demonstration, the volunteered participant was asked how did he feel during the demonstration, did it hurt or not. And he answer "I strangely felt warm~". It's because 스님 did the demonstration with warm heart. ^^

We ended the temple stay segment by cleaning the bedroom we used and having some lunch.

Before leaving the temple, we had to clean the bedroom we used by ourselves, and put the clothes (uniform) we wore to the laundry room.

Part of the temple view from our bedroom~

In front of our bedroom!

Tower up the stones while make a wish with all your heart. Believe it and your wish may come true soon or later!

Last shot (1) before leaving the temple~

Last shot (2)

We then continued to a village in Ganghwa Island to experience the making of hwamunseok (Korean traditional mat) and ingeolmi (Korean rice cake). It was so fun!

The owner (?) gave explanation to us about how to make the hwamunseok.

I was seriously making one! ㅋㅋ

And so the other participants~

The color looks good!

We can either keep it as one or cut it into three to be used as a pad for coffee or tea cup.

Showing off my little hwamunseok with my partner~

이모님들 were preparing the tools for us to experience making the rice cake (떡)!

One of them demonstrated how to do it~

And we made turn to try it, two-by-two. We made it just beside a rice field. The main ingredient of the rice cake was planted by themselves at this rice field!